German Homeschool Romeike Family Continues Fight to Remain in the United States

October 2, 2023October 7, 2023 Tennessee Homeschoolers

UPDATE OCTOBER 6, 2023: As of Friday, October 6, 2023, at 8:50 a.m., the petition for reinstatement of the family’s deferred action status reached 106,423 signatures of the minimum 100,000 sought.

All they wanted to do was homeschool, but in Bissingen, Germany where Uwe and Hannelore Romeike (pronounced Ro-mike-uh) lived in 2008 with their five children, homeschooling was illegal. Due to their fear of government persecution that included continued fines, possible removal of their children from their home, and being imprisoned, they fled their home country seeking political asylum in the United States. Since that time, the Romeikes have been living in Tennessee where they continued to raise their family and have been legally homeschooling their children.

In September 2023, the Romeike family that has grown to include seven children (the younger two are American born citizens), a son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and a newborn grandchild, received notice from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that their deferred action status to stay in the United States indefinitely that was granted in 2014 had been revoked. The Romeike family would have to return to Germany where homeschooling is still illegal.

Why Homeschool?

Some of the reasons the Romeikes chose to homeschool are familiar to many parents in Tennessee (and across the country) who have made the same decision.

After noticing disturbing changes in the behavior of their older two children, Daniel and Lydia, who attended public school, the Romeikes pulled their children in 2006 and began homeschooling. Daniel was experiencing bullying and Lydia found herself feeling unsafe in her school environment. After learning about homeschool, Uwe and Hannelore decided that was the best option for their family and children citing several reasons noting there were negative influences in the schools. They felt that school engendered a negative attitude toward family and parents and would tend to turn children against Christian values.

Help from the HSLDA

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has actively been assisting the Romeike family with their political asylum efforts since 2008. The organization became involved with the family assisting them with the move to the United States and receiving political asylum. The Romeike family was granted political asylum in 2010 by Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman, which was later overturned in 2012. After that time, their battle continued for two years ending in 2014 with the family being granted deferred action status to stay in the United States indefinitely.

Fear of a Return to Germany

The Romeikes are homeschooling their youngest two children. If they were to return to Germany, they would face the same experiences they did before fleeing the country.

“We would face the same kind of persecution and the government is really trying to crush down financially families who are homeschooling and emotionally crush them, and coerce them into following their rules which we of course would not follow when we homeschooled. We would face fines. We would face the police coming again to take the children. We would face the loss of custody of our children. We would face losing business we built up . . .” said Uwe Romeikes who is a piano teacher at Carson-Newman University.

Uwe Romeike sat down for an interview with his son-in-law, Trace Bates, who is married to his daughter Lydia.

Uwe also shared the high school diplomas of the children who graduated as homeschool students would not be recognized, which would make it difficult for them to obtain higher education and employment.

“They could not get any higher education. They would probably not even get a job because, if you don’t have a recognized diploma in Germany, you don’t even get a good job,” said Uwe.

What is Happening Now?

The HSLDA is working closely with the Romeike family to secure their permanent residence in the United States. Along with providing legal services and support, the HSLDA has created a petition with the goal of gathering a minimum of 100,000 signatures. With the signatures obtained, it is the hope “their indefinitely deferred action status be reinstated, and that they be allowed to continue serving as integral members of their community here in the United States“.

People who want to help the family are encouraged to contact their Congress and support Bill H.R. 5423.